O.C. jobs growth signals stronger economy

Orange County's 30,600 net new payroll jobs from January 2012 to January 2013 show widespread recovery across the local economy, according to numbers from California's Employment Development Department.

Jobs in Orange County grew at a 2.3 percent clip last year, faster than previously estimated, reflecting a strengthening economy in California and across the country.

Earlier estimates by state employment officials had pegged the growth at 1.6 percent.

The revised figures, based on new year-end data, came as the county’s unemployment rate rose slightly for January, to 7.1 percent from 6.8 percent in December, due to expected seasonal factors such as stores cutting their holiday workforce.

“We are really recovering now,” said Mark Schniepp, director of the California Economic Forecast which works with UCLA on regional studies. He noted that Orange County’s jobless rate has dropped from 8.1 percent in January of last year. “Despite what the doom and gloomers think, momentum is building.”

Orange County’s 30,600 net new payroll jobs from January 2012 to January 2013 showed widespread recovery across the local economy, according to numbers from California’s Employment Development Department. The fastest growth was in construction, 5.4 percent, reflecting a comeback in the housing market.

Dawson & Dawson, a staffing company based in Mission Viejo, is placing middle-management workers in insurance, property management, advertising, construction, architecture, health care and logistics, said Kathy Dawson, company president.

“Its getting better, and we are living it every day,” she said. “Two years ago, we had 50 job openings to place people. This year, we have 100.”

The fact that Orange County’s unemployment rate rose in January “might look scary on the surface,” said Chapman University economist Esmael Adibi. “But we always see an uptick at the beginning of the year. Fewer people are working in retail trade. People travel less. Businesses don’t pile up inventory, so fewer trucks move around.”

Adibi added, “The good news is that we are seeing a broad-based recovery in all the major sectors.”

According to revised figures, California’s payroll jobs grew 2.1 percent last year. In January, with a net of 254,900 new positions, California, the nation’s most populous state, was second only to Texas in job creation.

However, the state’s jobless rate is 9.8 percent, tied with that of Rhode Island as the highest in the nation. Nearly 1.9 million Californians were unemployed in January.

Economists have found no indication of a widening gap between California and other states. The Golden State’s higher joblessness reflects a state more dependent on seasonal agricultural labor than many others, Schniepp said. Demographics also play a role.

“We have a surge in high school and college graduates inundating the labor force,” he said. “Young people don’t migrate to Ohio. They come to California.”

Earlier this month, the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the U.S. jobless rate was 7.7 percent in February, down from 8.3 percent a year earlier. State and county jobs data lag national data.

From January 2012 to January 2013, payroll jobs grew in 48 states and the District of Columbia, and dropped in two states (Maine and West Virginia). The states with the biggest percentage jump were North Dakota (5.4 percent) and Utah (3 percent).

North Dakota, which is in the throes of an oil and gas boom, registered the nation’s lowest unemployment in January, at 3.3 percent.

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